


forever young, let the good times roll

by chahakyn



Series: now i’m no longer alone (a 5, 6, 7 friendship series) [2]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Gen, No Incest, Pre-Canon, Pre-Season/Series 01, Sibling Bonding, Translation Available, Перевод на русский | Translation in Russian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:20:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26202562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chahakyn/pseuds/chahakyn
Summary: Vanya's been feeling down. Ben and Five work on something to cheer her up.
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy & Ben Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves
Series: now i’m no longer alone (a 5, 6, 7 friendship series) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1900036
Comments: 8
Kudos: 136





	forever young, let the good times roll

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [forever young, let the good times roll](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28923000) by [greengoroshek](https://archiveofourown.org/users/greengoroshek/pseuds/greengoroshek)



> fic title is from [ Misbehaving](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP4AZDbdQYY&ab_channel=Labrinth-Topic) by Labrinth

Ben starts as a newspaper is thrust onto the table in front of him, covering his calculus homework. He looks up to see Five hovering over him.

“Thoughts?” Five says without prompting, brow raised as he nods at something in the middle of the paper. Ben sighs and leans over to inspect it, scouring what appears to be the Culture section, specifically upcoming musical events.

“On music?” Ben looks up, expression deadpan. “It’s good.”

Five rolls his eyes as his finger jabs at an announcement. “Never would have guessed. I meant _this_ , specifically.”

Ben nudges Five’s finger aside and scans the notice advertising a concert presenting Tchaikovsky’s greatest pieces, just a few weeks away and a mere 4 blocks down from the Academy.

“For Vanya?” Ben asks, looking up. Five nods.

“Good idea.” Ben sighs. “She’s been really quiet lately.”

“Yeah, three guesses as to why,” Five scoffs, both his and Ben’s countenances quickly sobering as they recall the debacle from a few days ago. Vanya had asked Dad during dinner (which was her first mistake) if she could try out for a nearby youth orchestra. Reginald had shut her down in an instant, citing her lack of musical prowess and subpar social skills as reasons for why she would be unable to successfully participate.

“You have much to learn before you attempt something of that scale, Number 7.”

Vanya had nodded mutely, looking down at her lap as her bottom lip trembled. Ben remembers having to hold Five back from lunging at Dad, his hand clamping down on Five’s wrist as they locked eyes.

_Don’t_ , Ben had mouthed, shaking his head imperceptibly. _You’ll make it worse_.

Five had relaxed enough that Ben could let go of his wrist, but since then, things have been tense. With Vanya more distant than usual, and Five skulking around the Academy snapping at everyone in sight, Ben can tell everyone in the manor is feeling a bit on edge. It’s no wonder Five wants to shake things up a little and sneak Vanya out the house for some time off.

All things considered, attending an orchestral event isn’t a bad idea, Ben decides. Despite the numerous barriers in place, that is.

“I think this is great, _except_ for the fact that we don’t have money,” Ben says slowly, gaze following Five as his brother pulls up a chair and sits himself on it in a singular motion more graceful than anything Ben would have been able to manage.

“We have money,” Five says calmly. Ben can see the faint shadow of a dimple on Five’s cheek, the slight quirk at the corner of his lips. Ben’s eyes narrow.

“We _really_ don’t,” he stresses more emphatically. Five shrugs and plucks Ben’s pencil from his grip, twisting it nimbly between his fingers with an air of nonchalance.

“You’re under the impression we don’t have money because _you_ ,” Five punctuates the word by jabbing the pencil in his direction, “are thinking about things the wrong way.”

Ben frowns, mind sifting through Five’s words. What could he possibly mean? They don’t have money, Dad would never give them an allowance, let alone—

Ben freezes “Five.”

Five hums in response, eyes glittering.

“Five, I am _not_ stealing money from Dad.”

“Of course you aren’t. I’ll do the stealing. But you’ll help me,” he says, so confident in Ben’s agreement that he doesn’t even bother to lilt his voice in question.

“I won’t,” Ben seethes, snatching his pencil back and shaking his head vehemently.

“You _will_ because it’s for Vanya.” Five smirks before promptly vanishing in a flash of blue. Ben freezes before looking down at work.

_Dam_ n. Five’s got him there.

\---

Ben seeks Five out during their study time in the library, dumping his Mandarin homework on the table before sitting across from Five with a huff.

“I can give you half an hour tomorrow. I don’t think my abilities will keep Dad occupied for much longer than that.”

“That’s more than enough,” Five says smugly, leaning back in his seat. Ben rolls his eyes.

“It better be, because I’m not helping you with this again.” He pauses, flipping through his workbook before glancing up. “Have you even scoped out his office yet?”

“Every visit to his office is a scoping session.”

“So that would be a _no_ , then,” Ben says accusingly, lips pursed.

“Are you doubting me?” Five leans forward in his seat, gaze sharp. If he were anyone else, Ben knows he would find this image of his brother a little more intimidating, Five’s body tense with coiled energy, fingers curled into loose fists suggestive of a threat. But Ben, long accustomed to Five’s posturing, only waves his hand dismissively.

“Scoping a place has to be done with intention. If it’s just an afterthought, you’re bound to miss things.”

Five raises a brow. “It’s possible that I can do things better than you expect. In fact, it’s actually very likely.”

“What if I said I don’t believe you?”

“Then I’d say you better hope that I’m more capable than you think, because we’re both going down if this fails.”

Ben’s eyes narrow. “You _wouldn’t_.”

“Oh, there’re many things I wouldn’t do. This isn’t one of them.” Five throws Ben an arrogant smile before standing and unnecessarily straightening his blazer. He taps Ben’s paper. “You missed a stroke. Also, wrong measure word, either way.”

“Thanks a ton,” Ben hisses, batting Five’s hand away.

\---

“You didn’t tell me you roped Klaus into this,” Ben mutters as he crouches next to Five, watching his nimble fingers fiddle with the lock on the safe. “He pounced on Dad the second he finished lecturing me.”

“I did. And I got Diego to teach me lockpicking too. Apparently sticking it to the old man is a good enough incentive.”

Ben frowns. “Yeah, I see that for Diego. But I don’t think Klaus would do it for the sake of ‘sticking it to the man’.” He paints air-quotes around the words with his fingers.

Five looks up from the safe, expression somewhat miffed. A small bead of sweat drips down the side of his face.

“I offered to sneak Klaus out to Griddy’s tomorrow night.”

“Oh, thanks for inviting me,” Ben grouses, crossing his arms over his chest.

Five shrugs, turning back to the safe. “You didn’t ask. Besides, I was hoping I wouldn’t need to bribe you because of your kind heart and good nature.”

“Buttering me up isn’t going to work in your favor,” Ben says lowly. Five sighs in frustration and drops the tools in his hands, turning himself to give Ben his full attention.

“Look, you and I care about Vanya more than anyone else in this damn family. And I knew that the reward of seeing Vanya happy would be worth enough to you as it is to me. Satisfied?”

“Five—

“Just shut up and let me work or nobody is gonna be happy at the end of all of this.” Five picks up his tools and turns back to the safe with a huff, tongue clenched between his teeth as he continues to fuss with the lock. Ben sighs and pulls himself to his feet, creeping towards the door. He’s here already. Might as well be useful and keep watch.

There are a few blessed minutes of silence before Ben catches the sound of raised voices from coming deeper in the manor. He cocks his head, trying to single out the speech patterns of whoever is heading this way.

“Absolutely not. And furthermore, Number 4—"

“Shit, Five,” Ben hisses urgently, clutching the doorframe. “Dad’s coming.”

“I know, just give me—a second…” Five grits out, clearly still occupied with the safe. Ben taps his foot urgently as he hears Klaus whine something indiscernible. Ben would put them near the bottom of the stairs now, if he had to. Less than 30 seconds away.

“Nothing more is to be said on the matter. Good day, Number 4.” Only one set of footsteps now, striding confidently across the wood paneling of the second floor, closer and closer.

“ _Five_ ,” Ben whispers, his breathing speeding up with every one of Reginald’s steps. He nearly jumps as he feels a tug at his sleeve, turning to see Five giving him a mischievous grin.

_Hold on_ , Five mouths, taking his hand, and Ben can feel both of them being yanked out of Reginald’s office by Five’s powers just as the door creaks open, Reginald’s fingers curled around the edge of the wood—

Ben falls hard onto the floor of Five’s room, groaning as he clutches his chest.

“That was _too_ close,” he wheezes, looking up to see Five leaning against his desk while thumbing through the cash, not a hair out of place.

“I’ve been closer.” Five shrugs, tucking the cash neatly into one of Ben’s notebooks. “Keep that safe until I can get the tickets.”

“Oh, of course, I’d _love_ to keep this stolen cash safe from Dad!” Ben exclaims, voice cracking with false enthusiasm as he throws his hands in the air. “Thank you so much for asking me Five, I’m so very happy to do it because you asked.”

“Glad to hear it.” Five smirks. He suddenly freezes, vanishing a moment before a loud knock sounds at his door. Ben hisses out a curse, scrambling to shove his notebook into a drawer.

\---

“Are you sure about this?” Vanya tugs at the hem of her dress, looking up at the entrance to the concert hall.

“To be perfectly honest? Not really,” Ben says, frowning as he turns toward Five.

“Well, I’m confident enough for all three of us, so I’d say we’re good to go.” He beckons them closer, passing out their tickets. “We might look a little too young to appreciate the complexities of Tchaikovsky’s work, so prepare yourselves for some resistance.”

“Speak for yourself, I’m plenty old enough to appreciate Tchaikovsky,” Vanya mutters, prompting a surprised snort from Ben as the three of them march into the building, beelining towards the door leading to their seats. An usher suddenly appears out of thin air, arm outstretched and expression twisted in vaguely concealed disapproval.

“Children need to be accompanied by an adult at all times in the concert hall.”

“Sir, we—”

“No exceptions.”

Ben throws Five an exasperated look. “What next?” he whispers, “Have us sit on each other’s shoulders and waltz in wearing an extra-large trench coat?

“Shush,” Vanya whispers, stepping forward and twisting her hands together nervously.

“My brothers and I are looking for our mom. She was supposed to meet us here, but she might already be inside.”

The usher eyes them warily. “You three don’t look related.”

“We’re _adopted_ siblings.” Five gives the man a wide-eyed smile, showing just a hint too many teeth. Ben discreetly elbows him in the side.

“Please?” Vanya implores, eyes wide with worry. “Mom said she would be right back, but I’m nervous. I don’t want to miss a thing, it’s our first concert and I really, _really_ like Tchaikovsky. And to hear Hilary Hahn perform, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity!”

The usher looks between the 3 of them, considering. He sighs and holds his hand out for their tickets with a shake of his head.

“I shouldn’t but…. Find your mom fast, okay? The performance is about to start, and we can’t have kids running around all in the middle of it.”

Thank you so much!” Vanya beams as he hands back their ticket stubs. She quickly links arms with Ben and grabs Five’s hand to pull them into the concert hall, nearly skipping with joy.

“Wow, Vanya,” Ben murmurs, grinning as he pats her hand.

“A rousing performance,” Five agrees as he nudges them towards their seats.

“You underestimate how much I love Tchaikovsky,” Vanya says primly as they settle in. They chatter amongst themselves for a few minutes, but once the music begins, they’re all pulled in. The orchestral music swells, sweeping everyone up in the lyricism of Tchaikovsky’s best works. Ben manages to tear himself from the music only once throughout the entire concert, glancing to his left to ascertain his sibling’s reactions.

Five looks as calmly neutral as he does at any given moment, nothing less than put together. But his fingers tapping against the arm of his seat and his eyes firmly trained on the movements of the musicians betrays his true colors; he’s clearly enjoying himself.

Next to him, Vanya drinks the orchestra in with wide eyes, leaning forward in her seat almost unconsciously. She’s clearly enchanted by the whole affair, and Ben knows she’ll be scrambling to get her hands on as much of the sheet music as she can at the end of this.

Ben smiles to himself and turns back to the orchestra. This was a good idea.

\---

“That was _amazing_!” Vanya gushes as they walk out of the concert hall together.

“It was very enjoyable,” Five agrees, letting Vanya loop her arm around his before pushing his hands into his pockets. Ben takes her other hand, swinging their arms back and for the between them as he hums in assent. They stroll quietly along the dark streets with Five guiding them, and Ben seen realizes that he’s drawing the evening out as long as he can by not offering to warp them back. Regardless, their moods all begin to sober with each step that takes them closer to the Academy.

“I wish we didn’t have to go back,” Vanya admits quietly, gaze trained on the ground as she kicks a pebble. “I don’t want this evening to end.”

“All good things, Vanya,” Five sighs, slowing his steps as he looks up at the night sky.

“I know. And this was a very good thing.” She pulls them to a stop, moving to stand on the tips of her toes before wrapping her arms around both their necks and hugging them tight.

“Thank you,” she whispers, voice trembling in their ears. Ben pulls away slightly to see her eyes shining with tears.

“Vanya, are you _crying_?” Ben asks, startled. He gently wipes the tears off her cheeks with his thumb as Five makes a concerned noise, eyes wide.

“Yeah, but it’s because I’m happy,” Vanya gives a watery laugh, reach up to pat their cheeks. “I had a lovely evening, I have brothers who care about me, and I’m just so happy.” She shakes her head as she brushes the tears away with her sleeve, still smiling all the while.

Five nudges Ben with his foot, giving him a satisfied smile as their gazes meet. Ben rolls his eyes, nudging him back in good humor. Five was right (unsurprisingly). Seeing Vanya happy was most _definitely_ worth it all.

**Author's Note:**

> ben is a good, law-abiding citizen and five is a smug little bastard, but they make do for vanya's sake :)
> 
> come find me on [ tumblr](https://shizuoi.tumblr.com/) if you want to talk more!


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